Traffic signal



Sept. 6, 1932. v I J w, BRYCE 1,876,201

TRAFFIC SIGNAL Filed Dec. 18, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet l HIIHIHHIIIIIIIIIllIllllllIlllY P 6, 1932- .J. w.. BRYCE v 1,876,201

TRAFFIC S IGNAL Filed De c. 18, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet '2 J.' W. BRYCE TRAFFIC SIGNAL Sept. 6, i932.

' Filed Dec. 18, 1924 5' Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Sept. 6, 1932 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE J'AMES W. BRYCE, OF BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL TIME RECORDING COMPANY, OF ENDICOTT, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK TRAFFIC SIGNAL Application filed December 18, 1924. Serial No. 756,667.

The present invention is directed to the improvement of controlling devices for traffic signaling systems. In such systems it is customary to control trafiic by lights placed at street corners or intersections. In'certain systems these lights are flashed automatically to permit the flow of traflic first in a .north and south direction, then to display tion.

Certain signal controlling devices have been proposed in which one ortwo changes of program are possible, but with the widely divergent traflic conditions which now occur in cities these few changes of program are of little utility.

My present invention has for its object the provision of a simple signal controlling system which will permit the ready change of the signal program when desired without the necessity of making structure changes in the machine and without interrupting the full automatic control of the program.

My invention also provides means by which, in case of emergency such as a fire, the automatic program may be interrupted at the will of the operator and fixed signals displayed to stop all traflic during the emergency. and then, permit resuming automatic operation aga n instantly when the emergency has passed.

Further and other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in the description of the invention which follows- Referring to the drawings, wherein I have shown what I now consider to be the pre-' ferred form of my invention:

Fig.1 shows a front view partly in section.

2 shows a sectional elevation on line 2--2 of Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged view of a portion of the mechanism in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows an enlarged view of the circuit control device shown in Fig. 7.

Fig.6 is a view of the pawl retaining devlce. v

Fig. 6is a conventional traflic signal station.

Fig. 7' is the wiring diagram of my invention.

In order to make clear the principle of my invention I shall first explain the method of operation from the circuit diagram in Fig. 7, in which 10 is an external source of current from which current is supplied through switch '11 normallyclosed on button 12 to line 13 in which is motor 14 which runs continuously while the system is operating automatically. I

When it is desired to begin automatic control of the signal system start key 15 is depressed by an attendant, permitting current to flow from line 13 through contact 16, line 17, plate 18, contact 20 and magnet 21,

whereupon armature 22 is drawn to the right 80 establishing a stick circuit through line 23, contacts 24 and 20 and magnet 21. Start key 15 may now be released and the signal program will be entirely under control of the machine.

When armature 22 is drawn to the-right it also closescontacts 25 and 26 permitting flow of current from line 13 through line 27 and contacts 25 and 26 to the street circuits 28 and 29 respectively, thereby displaying signals of one class, such as red lights 28A, to east and west traffic and signals of another class, such as green lights 29A, to north and south traflic. While it is evident that my invention may be used to control the autoclose, but as contact 16 is now open, magnet so my system is now displaying red lights to east and west trafiic and green lights to north,

and south trafiic.

This condition will prevail until in the course of mechanical operation of my machine plate 18 is moved so that contact 20 is broken, whereupon magnet 21 is deenergized, armature 22 is released and contacts'24, 25, and 26 are broken and current interrupted in circuits 28 and 29. At almost the same instant further travel of plate 18 moves plate 30 and closes contact 31 momentarily and we have current flowing from line 27 through line 32, contact 31, line 33, plate 38, contact 40 and magnet 41, whereupon armature '42 is drawn over and a circuit established through line 43, contact 44, contact 40 and magnet 41. At the same time the closing of contact 46 establishes a circuit through line 47 to line 48 and the yellow change signals '48Aare displayed east, west, north and south.

When momentary contact 31 is broken, the arm which actuates plate 18 returns to its home position allowing contact 20 to again 21 remains deenergized and thus contact 24 is open and no action takes place. The yellowed lights are displayed until plate 38 is moved and contact 40 is broken and the yellow signals extinguished. At practically the same instant slight further movement of plate 38 moves plate 50 and makes momentary (as at 31) contact 51 whereupon current flows from line 47 through line 52, contact 51, line 53, arm 54, contact 55, line 56, plate 58, contact 60 and magnet 61. This energizes magnet 61 drawing armature 62 to the right and establishing a circuit from line 63 throilgh contact" 64' and by way of contact 60 through magnet'61 maintaining it energized. At the same time contacts 65 and 66 are closed and current flows from line 67 to lines 68 and 69, which display green lights 68A east and west and red lights 69A north and south. At an earlier point in the cycle when current passed through line 53 and contact 55, current also passed through magnet 81 which, when energized, actuated armature 82 and in a manner to be later explained,

caused contact 55 to be broken and contact 83 to be made so that now when plate 58 is moved by its actuating arm and contact 60 is broken and contact 84 made, current flows from line 67 through line 85, contact 84, line 86 and contact 40, thereby energizing magnet 41 and again illuminating the yellow change signals as previously described.

Upon the breaking of contact 40 and makmg of momentary contact 51, current again flows through line 53, but now, as contact 55 is open and 83 closed, it flows through line 87 back through contact 20 and magnet 21 so that the system is again displaying red east and west and green north and south.

While the circuit was complete through contact 83 a portion of the current passed through magnet 81 again moving arm 82 and actuating the contact mechanism so that the next time current flows through line 53 it will find contact 55 closed and 83 0 en.

Thus it willbe seen that have traced a complete operating cycle whereby the eastwest li hts are first red, then yellow, then green, t en yellow, then red and so on indefinitely, while the north-south lights are first green, thenyellow, then red, then yellow, then green and so on indefinitely.

There remains only to describe the circuit by which, in case of emergency,;lthe automatic operation of m system is interrupted and one color of lig ts (for instance, red) displayed continuously. This is accomplished by swinging switch 11 sothat contact with 12 is broken and contact with 90 and 91 made so that red lights are displayed'on all sides to east and west by line 92, and to north and south by line 93. If it be desired to display yellow lights instead of red, during the emergency, it will be sufiicient to run only a single line from switch 11 to the yellow circuit 48. After the emergency is passed, by moving switch 11 to contact with 12 again, automatic operation of the 'systemis restored. I shall now describe the mechanism by which the operations I have described are carried out.

Motor 14, through gears 100, 101 shaft 102 and gears 103 and 104, drives at uniiorm speed horizontal shaft105 on which are fast three serrated discs 106. Each of these discs 106 controls one of the circuits in Fig. 7 as will later appear. All the control mecha nism is enclosed in the case 109 having a front arcuate section 110. Pivotedon shaft 105 adjacent each disc 106 is a settable handle 111 provided with a latch 112 designed to engage any selected notch in one of the graduated charts or scales 113, there being one of said charts secured to the arcuate portion 110 of the case adjacent to each control handle 111 and notched for en gement by latches 112 to secure levers 111 1n their desired positions at the will of the operator. Associated with each settable handle 111 is an arm 114, mounted to rotate on shaft 105, and in its lrome position resting against pin fast in arm 111, arm 114 being held in contact with pin 115 by spring 116. Arm 114 carries at its upper end an adjustable stop 117.

Pivoted at 118 near theupper end of each arm 114 is the pawl 119 (Figs. 2 and 3) designed to cooperate with the teeth'in the rim of its corresponding serrated disc 106 and having a tail'120 which contacts at a suitable time with adjustable stop 121 secured to the case 109 by bracket 122. Attached to the tail of the pawl at 123 is the radial link 124, slotted at 125 to engage shaft 105. The lower end of link 124 carries the taper stud or pin 126.

Mounted slidably on shaft 105 and arranged to coo erate with each member 124 is a clutch 12 (Figs. 1 and 5) pressed towards 124 byspring 128. Shifting collar 129 enables arm 130 attached to its corresponding armature to shift clutch 127 out of engagement with stud 126 whenever any control magnet, such as 21, is energized. When this occurs, depending arm 131 also attached to the armature moves to close the contacts such as 24, 25 and 26, or 44 and 46, or 64, and 66 (Fig. 7) represented conventionally at 132 in Fig. i

The automatic switchingdevice in Fig. 4 comprises the shaft 135 on which is the serrated wheel 136 having attached to it the star wheel 137 which has half as many teeth as the serrated wheel. In the position shown the nose 138 of arm 54 is resting against a tooth in the wheel 137 and contact 55 is closed. When magnet 81 is ener 'zed arm 82 will be drawn to the right su ciently so that its pawl 139 will engage the next tooth to the right on ratchet 136 and when magnet 81 is deenergized spring 140 acting through arm 82 and pawl 139 will rotateratchet 136-one notched tooth in counter-clockwise direction. 'As wheel 137 has half as many teeth as the ratchet wheel this results in nose 138 resting in the depression between teeth in 137 so that the upper part of arm 54 urged by its spring 141 has moved sufliciently to the right to break contactl55 andmake contact 83. Thus it will be seen that every time magnet 81 is energized it sends current alternately through contacts 55 and 83.

Assuming that green means go, red means stop and yellow means change and that the operator wants trafiic to flow north and south for two minute periods, and east and west for one minute periods, with a change period of half a minute, between each change of traflic flow, he sets the left handle at the two minute notch on chart 113,

and the right handle at its one minute notch. It must be understood that the figures representing periods of time as shown on chart 113 and as used in this description are for illustrative pur oses only and may be changed to any other gures desired.

With motor 14 running, discs 106 rotating, and arms 114 in their home positions against stop pins 115, the operator depresses start key 15, whereupon magnet 21 becomes en ergized, its armature 22 is moved and through its arm 130 moves it-sclutch 127 to the right as shown in Fig. 5, releasing-pin 126 and allowing link 124, drawn by spring 142, to rise and force pawl 119 into engagement with a tooth on disc 106. Disc 106 is rotating clockwise and carries with it pawl 119, arm 114 and link 124 until the tail 120 of the pawl contacts with stop 121, forcing the pawl out of engagement with the tooth of disc, and

allowing spring 116 to-draw arm 114 'back to vhome position against pin 115 on settable handle 111.

Just before the pawl is thrown out of engagement by stop .121, stop 117 on arm 114 has pushed blade 18 to the right, breaking contact 20, thereby extinguishing all red and green lights, and making contact 31 thereby energizing magnet 41 and illuminating the yellow changelights.

The breaking of contacts 20 deenergizes magnet 21, thereby permitting spring 128 to force clutch 127 to the left at the same time that link 124 is depressed by the engagement of cam stop 121 withthe upper 'surface of tail 120. Clutch 127 thereupon en ages pin 126 on link 124, forcing it down an preventing the link from rising and pawl 119 from again engaging the ratchet teeth on disc 106 until magnet 21 is energized in the next cycle.

Discs 106 are rotating steadily and settable handle 111 was set in such position that it required two minutes for the disc 106 to carry pawl 119 from its home position (Fig. 2) to the point where the contacts 20 and 31- were broken and made respectively. Therefore traflic flowed north and south for two minutes.

In like manner the yellow change lights will be kept on for half a minute at the expiration of which period contact 40 will be broken by mechanism cooperating with the second disc 106 and contact 51 made, thus extinguishing the yellow lights and energizing magnet 61, thus permitting east and west traflic for the predetermined period of one minute, at the expiration of which period the mechanism cooperating with the. third disc will extinguish the green and red lights and again show the yellow for the half minute period, at the expiration of which time magnet 21 will again be energized thus completing the cycle of operation which will go on automatically indefinitel the center handle at the half minute notch If the operator wants to change the duration of any period he simply moves the corresponding control handle to \the desired notch, which is 'done instantly without affecting in the least the full automatic operation of the system. r

When any pawl 119 is forced by stop 121.

out of engagement'with a tooth in its disc 106, arm 114 is immediately drawn back to home position by spring 116 but if in that backward journey the pawl were called upon to pass a tooth slightly higher than the one from which it had just been released then the pawl might engage that tooth and be carried again to the right until again released by stop 121. To avoid any such possiblityI have designed stud 126 and clutch 127 with cone shaped surfaces so proportioned that when 127 is pushed over to engage 126 it pushes 126 slightly downward thus giving enough extra travel to link 124 to draw pawl nose after breaking said circuit, means controlled 119 well above the top of the teeth of its disc 106, v

In case of emergency when it is desired to temporarily interrupt the automatic control and display lights all of one color, for instance red, the operator simply turns switch 11 (Figs. 1 and 7) to the on position and the desired result is obtained as already described in connection with the circuits in Fi 7. When the emergency has passed switc 11 is turned again to off position by the operator and automatic control resumed.

What I claim is: i

.1. In a signaling system including a plurality of independent signal circuits, means for automatically establishing one of said circuits for a certain time period and for thereby the aforesaid means for initiating the making of a second circuit, means for automatically maintaining said second circuit for a certain time period and for thereafter breaking the same, means controlled. by said last mentioned means for initiating the mak ing of a third signal circuit, means for thereafter automatically maintaining said third circuit for a certain time period, means called into action by the last mentioned means for thereafter again initiating the making of the second circuit, and means called into action at alternate, operations for initiating the making of the first circuit under control of the second circuit.

2. Asignalingsystem, in combination with a plurality of signal circuits, a plurality of devices operating independently and automatically forsuccessively initiating each circuit, means for maintaining the circuits after their initiation ener zed for a given time period, movable mem rs adapted to engage said devices for actuating them, a common actuator for driving 'sald movable members,

and means for separately calling into action matically for successively maintaining each circuit for a given time period, means controlled by each device at substantially the time of breaking of its related signal'circuit for initiating the operaton of another device, and means operative after the last signal device of the series has beenoperated for automatically periodically reversing the order'of operation of the remaining signal devices of the series.

4. In a signaling system in combination with a plurality of signal circuits, a series of devices operating independently andv automatically for successively maintaining each circuit for a given time period, means controlled by each device at substantially the of the series has been operated for automatically periodically reversing the order of operation of the remaining signal devices and means for independently altering the duration of the operating cycle of each device whereby the signal circuit may be maintained for variously desired time periods.

5. Signal apparatus comprising a series of three signal devices, operatingcircuits for the devices, one for operatin means for rendering the secon circuit of the series effective to operate the second device. after the first device has been operated, and means for alternately rendering the first and third circuits of the series effective after operation of the second device including controlling switches in the first and third circuits alternately rendered efiective to close their respective circuits. L 6. Signal apparatus comprisin ously movable actuator, a series 0% trolling circuits, switches, one in each circuit, members for operating the switches, means controlled by a circuitupon its being set in operation for. coupling its corresponding member to said actuator, said member thereupon being actuated to operate the switch of the succeeding circuit of the series, and means for adjusting the extent of operation of said member by said actuator. p

7. In a signalling system in combination with a plurality'of si 111- circuits, a-rotary "shaft, driving means t erefor, a plurality of timing devices moved one at a time and automatically b said shaft for successively maintaining each circuit fora given time period, a coupling between each device and said shaft, meanslfor separately callin into action each coupling of the aforesaid devices under the control of and by the operation of the previously acting device to operate the coupled device through a certain stroke corresponding to a given time period, and settable means associated with each device readily settable during an uninterrupted operation of the signal controlling devices for altering the time period of the associated device only while the stroke and corresponding time periods of. the remaining devices remain unaffected.

8. Apparatus comprising, a series of display elements, individual circuits therefor, each circuit including a control switch, a device for each switch for operation of the latter, timing members each corresponding to one ofsaid devices, an actuator common to said timing members, means for continuously driving said actuator, means for each timing member for coupling the corresponding timing member to said actuator under control of the corresponding device simultaneously with operation by the latter of its associated a continusignal coneach device,

switch, the last named means including means f i acting after a member has been coupled to said actuator for a given time period for 'operating the coupling means corresponding to 3 I another of said members and rendering ino erative couphng means corresponding to t e" coupled member, and means including said devicesfor maintaining for the said given period the circuit of the display elements operated by the corresponding device.

, 9. Apparatus comprising a series of electrical elements, circuits for o ratin each one of said elements when rendgi-ed e ective, a rotary shaft, movable devices corresponding to the different circuits and each actuatable by said shaft between an'initial and a final position, means forcoupling the devices to the shaft-to efl'ect actuation of the devices between said positions one at a. time and in suc- 2o cession, means controlled by each device for rendering the corresponding circuit efiective, means for maintaining the last named circuit effective during-the travel of the succeedin device, members for determining the initi 25 positions of said devices, and means for ad-' usting the last said members to adjust the lnitial positions of the devices.

' In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my signature.

so JAMES w. BRYCE. 

